One apple-picking-perk? Apple crisp. There’s nothing quite like sweet and spicy warm apples topped with an super crispy, crumbly crust, right? Last weekend, I got together with a couple of my favorite people (…and can’t forget my fave pup, Pebbles!) to tackle crisp-making.

We worked with a super simple recipe from A Family Feast that Amanda found on Pinterest – and doubled up the recipe to up all of the (20+) apples that we had.

Pebbles was super helpful with peeling…

We had fun peeling, chopping, mixing and crumbling — and followed the recipe almost to the tee. We added more oats than it called for – and I’m glad we did. It was definitely a sweet recipe, but not TOO sweet…but it could have gone there reallllly fast. I think if I use this recipe again, I’d use less brown sugar and add more oats.

It’s been a crazy past few days – hence my absence (although, let’s be honest – posting regularity is not exactly my calling card as of late 🙂 )

It’s been a combination of hometown team craziness and low key family (and fatherhood) celebrations. Along with being busy – the weather’s been pretty warm and humid so that’s called for cool and quick meals that fit into that whole “I’m trying to be good to my body…aka I’m going to be living in my bathing suit in a couple of weeks” mentality.

Friday – I opened the veggie drawer and two beautiful ears of corn on the cob were just calling to me. Corn – especially corn on the cob – is easily my fave veggie. The combination of crunch and sweetness (while still being nutritionally fab) is just a match made in heaven.

Now, I’d had Ina’s lobster & corn salad on my mind since it first touched my lips Memorial Day weekend…but well, lobster is not exactly a staple in my fridge. My fridge would be full but my wallet would be empty.

However, my lack of lobster wasn’t going to stop me from making myself (and mi madre) a quick, cool and filling corn salad. I sort of just winged it and it came out really well!

Corn salad:

2 ears of corn on the cob (I would have used more if we had them) – blanched in boiled, salted water for 3-5 minutes

2 vine-ripened tomatoes – chopped (I discarded seeds/mush)

1 orange pepper – thinly sliced

2 cups of baby spinach – to make it interesting I sliced the spinach into strips

1/2 of a medium red onion – it was pretty oniony, and though I love onion I might hold back a little next time

Additions of fresh herbs, more veggies or proteins would be awesome

Dressing (it looks like not enough dressing but it was just enough to flavor and slightly bind the salad without it being gloppy):

2 tsp of lemon juice

2 tbsp of light mayo

1 tsp of Dinosaur BBQ‘s Cajun Foreplay Spice Rub (it’s a nice combo of spicy, salty and sweet but you could use whatever combo of spices you like)

Saturday – I was up bright and early meeting friends in Copley Square to celebrate the Bruin’s and their Stanley Cup win!! It was craziness – so busy. Plus, it was super hot … They had predicted overcast skies and rain… so needless to say we weren’t prepared for the heat.

However, regardless of the fact that we were in desperate need of shade and water, it was a blast. My throat is still a bit scratchy from screaming so much.

I'm the tall one - in case you didn't know 🙂 haha

We had a great group around us – including a bunch of dudes who were all decked out.

Over a million people attended the parade…craziness.

Father’s Day on Sunday was decidedly lowkey. I got to spend it with a bunch of family – and of course my dad. We just did burgers/hot dogs, cold salads, etc. It was nice to just kick back with a cold beer and relax.

For Father’s Day – I made my dad a jar of my Grammy’s hot fudge sauce and meringues.

I piped the meringues this time and they came out perfect! Plus it’s fun to pipe stuff. 🙂